Miami Sunset Marina Skyline Countdown Timer

Somewhere between the last boat coming in and the sky catching fire, Miami does this. Palm fronds black against a wash of orange and pink, a skyline lit up like it is plugged in, buildings wearing their names in big letters on top, the marina below holding all that color on a surface so still it looks fake. I had a drink in my hand and sand in my shoes and absolutely no plans, which is the correct way to be here. This city takes a lot of grief for being loud and plastic and all surface, and some of that is fair, but evenings like this are why people keep coming back. The light is different down here. It hangs around longer, gets thicker, turns everything amber. Boats knock against the dock. Somebody is grilling something. A heron stands in the shallows being deeply unimpressed by all of us. I would take this over a rooftop bar any day. Palm trees do their silhouetted thing on the right, leaning in like they know perfectly well they are in the frame. A wooden pier, a warm wind, and a sky doing its best impression of a postcard.